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GREEN SPECIAL
January 3rd - January 15th 2019
Andalucia coastline
IMPACT
The polar ice cap meltdown will accelerate due to rising global temperatures, wreaking havoc along Spain’s 8,000 km of coastline. By 2100, sea levels along the likes of the Costa del Sol are expected to rise between 10 and 86 centimetres. Many crucial beaches are at risk of being washed away while large areas of the coast and its resorts could be flooded. Areas under significant threat include the deltas along the Ebro and Llobregat rivers, the seaside spit La Manga del Mar Menor in Murcia and Andalucia’s Donana coast.
Climate change is already wreaking havoc in Spain but the worst is yet to come... THREE QUARTERS of Spain could become a barren desert wasteland within 100 years if climate change is not dealt with. That’s just one of the many stark warnings to come out of the latest Greenpeace report which warns of an increase in forest fires, flooding, coastal erosion and the extinction of
glaciers in our own lifetime. In its annual report for last year, the environmental group detailed the devastating impact climate change has already had on Spain’s environment and the further devastation likely to come. Here we have rounded up eight ways Spain as we know it is under threat.
Desertification
Vanishing ecosystems
Around 20% of Spain is already classed as a desert, but if nothing is done to prevent rising temperatures, this could soar to 75%. According to Greenpeace, desertification is also being caused by the over-exploitation of water resources, poor agricultural practices in elevated areas, overgrazing, intensive agriculture and needless urbanisation.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), around 50% of species studied have been impacted by climate change. The disappearance of bees, in particular, will be a serious threat to Spain’s vital agricultural industries, which see 70% of crops relying on such insects for pollination. The number of bees has plummeted this century due to insecticides and the arrival of predators like the Asian hornet. Meanwhile, deforestation is expected to become more widespread following an increase in intense fires and a decrease in the ability for forests to recover.
Urban erosion
While Spain’s property market and its recovery has been celebrated by economists, the boom on its coastlines over the last three decades has only hel-
Heatwaves The four hottest years in Spanish history have all occurred in the last eight years (2011, 2014, 2015, 2017). And while the whole world will notice a rise in temperatures, Spain’s latitude makes it especially vulnerable to global warming and temperature spikes. It means the country will experience more intense and longer-lasting heatwaves.
Goodbye beaches
Rising sea levels and the changing force and direction of waves will increase flooding and coastal erosion to such an extent that many beaches in Cantabria and the Basque Country could be left without sand. Meanwhile, cities
along the coasts of A Coruna, Gijon and San Sebastian will be partially flooded and, in the second half of this century, more than 200 hectares of coastal land in the Basque region will be at risk of flooding.
ped to degrade the environmental conditions of the shoreline. Its ability to withstand flooding of coastal ecosystems has decreased by 10.6% since 2005.
Last of the glaciers At the current rate of global warming, all of Spain’s glaciers will be gone by 2050. In the Pyrenees, 80% of the glaciers have already disappeared. The glacier at Monte Perdido has shrunk by five metres in the last few decades. Between 1980 and 2010, there has been a 50-metre loss of glaciers across the Pyrenees. There were once 53 glaciers in 1850, there are now 20. As Jordi Camins, glaciologist at the Catalan Group of Climate Change Experts said: “The Pyrenees are the only mountain range on the planet where the extinction of glaciers will happen in one generation: ours.”
Wildfires Climate change is without doubt the leading cause behind the rise in deadly forest fires, and they are only going to become more frequent and more intense. Last year wildfires destroyed 150,000 hectares of land in the first six months of last year after one of the driest winters on record. Since 1968, rainfall has decreased by 25%, meaning Spain is losing out on 16 billion litres of water while average temperatures have risen by between 5C and 8C. Less rain makes the forests much drier and far more susceptible to long-burning fires. Meanwhile, drought and extreme temperatures change the forest mass, making it burn faster. This has already been seen in recent years with fires becoming larger - mostly consuming more than 500 hectares and harder to bring under control.
Photos by: Pedro Armestre
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